Conventionally, an electrical wire with a terminal fitting is known in which a terminal fitting is crimped to the end portion of a braided wire. The braided wire is formed by braiding a large number of metal strands, and is cut to a predetermined length. One end portion of the braided wire is set in a barrel portion of the terminal fitting, and then barrel pieces are crimped.
Incidentally, the strands in the end portion of the braided wire easily become loose and spread apart. When the strands in the end portion of the braided wire become loose, the tensile strength can decrease due to the strands becoming pinched between the barrel pieces of the terminal fitting, and concerns arise such as the contact resistance becoming unstable when the strands spread apart in the braided wire. In view of this, a technique is known in which the end portion of the braided wire is provided with a crimping portion obtained by welding the strands using a resistance welder, as disclosed in JP 2015-60632A. The strands become bonded and consolidated together in the crimping portion, thus making it possible to prevent the strands from becoming loose and spreading apart.
However, in the configuration described above, a welding device is used in order to form the crimping portion, thus making it likely for the equipment cost to become expensive and for manufacturing cost to rise.